The use of devices to dispense transfer tape is well known in the sign industry. The conventional sign shop process is to use a cutting machine to cut lettering out of rolls of adhesive-backed vinyl using a design in a computer. After the letters are cut, the excess vinyl is pulled away, leaving the letters on the backing sheet. The letters must be transferred in their pre-spaced format to a substrate. The substrate can be a vehicle door, banner, wood signboard, glass door/window or anything else that letters will stick to. It is necessary to transfer these letters all in their pre-spaced format to the substrate. The method used is covering the letters with a sheet of transfer tape and then removing the backing to apply the “decal” to the substrate.
Various manual devices are available on the market to dispense transfer tape for use in sign shops. These devices range from those made “in house”, which use a simple rod and holder to hold a single roll of tape, to those commercially available with two rods. The problem has long existed in the industry is inability to match the backing tape available with the variety of letter sizes used. Thus, while a vinyl graphic may only be 2″ wide, the roll of transfer loaded on the rod may be 24″ wide, therefore wasting 22″ of transfer tape. It is possible to load the single or double rod with multiple sizes of tape, but that combination only allows a total of 36″ or 72″ of transfer tape. The major problem that exists is that it is sometimes necessary to unload an unwanted width of transfer tape and reload the proper width to prevent wasting tape or having to apply two widths to cover large graphics.
It would be desirable to provide a tape dispensing device which provides the proper backing tape width without having to change rolls, and preventing the wasting of tape.